- Changed to using syslinux.exe for ubcd2usb. Old ubcd2usb script is moved to ubcd2usb.bak for those who wants to compare the old vs. new method. I plan to remove the .bak subdir in the final release if everything goes well.

- Change dosubcd.img command.com back to the native one (instead of 4DOS).

- Added UDMA support to dosubcd.img, contributed by as702.

- Updated device.com (in \bin\modboot.cab)

- Removed cwsdpmi and spfdisk in \bin subdir. They are leftover from a previous experiment which I forgot to remove.

ORIGINAL MSG:

I finally have UBCD 5.0b1 available for download. Would appreciated it if some of you can test-drive it and report any problems. It is currently available as a torrent download.

The main changes are as follows:

- Removed a ton of stuff from the UBCD. Basically, I am trying to keep the focus on system diagnosis and recovery, so apps that are deprecated, not relevant or not generic enough have been removed. These can always be added by the user via customization if required.

- Removed DOS-based NTFS access related stuff. Over the past year, I have found NTFS access under DOS to be problematic and prone to crashes. As such I have decided to find some other solution.

- Modified Erwin's DOS boot disk and added a "Default" bootup option that will skip all config dialogs, so it will boot much faster. All dosapps are now packaged as ZIP files that are unzipped to the RAM drive before execution.

- Integrated Parted Magic that provides access to NTFS partitions under Linux, which is far more robust and reliable than NTFS access under DOS. Bonus is USB drives can also be mounted more reliably, so this makes things easier when trying to fix or recover files in an NTFS partition. Parted Magic comes with a lot of other goodies too, such as GParted, TestDisk, PhotoRec etc. Even Firefox! I have also integrated F-Prot into the distro as well.

- Added help text for each menu item.

- UBCD2USB has been improved and tested under Dell D610 + Cruzer Micro 1GB USB memory stick. I couldn't get USB-ZIP mode to work under FreeDOS (FreeDOS will hang or be unable to read the filesystem), so I have only enabled USB-FDD and USB-HDD under makebootfat.exe. If any of you have ideas as to how to get FreeDOS to work with USB-ZIP, please let me know. But everything on the UBCD have been tested to be working under Dell D610 (but there are some hardware-specific stuff that I can't test).

What do you think if I ditch makebootfat, and using format + syslinux instead for ubcd2usb?

makebootfat seems to create incorrect filesystems with various defects, so it will fail chkdsk or some of the stricter Linux fdisk apps with all kinds of errors. format + syslinux pass these checks with flying colors.

However, format + syslinux will restrict booting to systems that support USB-HDD booting only, so it won't work on a lot of older systems.

The more I look into this, the more I realize universal USB booting is a big can of worms. I can't imagine the IT industry botching up something so fundamental.

Integrated Parted Magic that provides access to NTFS partitions under Linux, which is far more robust and reliable than NTFS access under DOS

I think that it would be difficult to find a linux distro without NTFS support now days . They have at least read support, but probably they now have all write support due ntfs-3g.

@Victor

Delete some unnecessary files:
In /antivir/:
- autorun.inf (won't launch the web page automaticly, because it is in a folder and not on the root of the cd. The antivir folder icon will change in the avira.ico icon.)
- avira.ico (so we don't need the picture either, you can always look in the HTML folder if you want to see it )
- boot.cat
- isolinux.bin
In /dban/:
- ldsyslinux.sys
In /Pmagic/:
- boot.cat
- isolinux.bin
In /ubcd/boot/: (leftovers of ubcd 4.1.1 ==> the current version is at /dban/)
- dban
- dban.gz
In /ubcd/tools/ubcd2iso/:
- wait.com (is never used in ubcd2iso.cmd, only its existence gets checked.
- Remove the line

The FreeDos image at /ubcd/images/dosubcd.igz is not compressed with gzip.
Uncompressed 2.8 MiB, if you compress it, the size is 2.4MiB.

Victor Chew wrote:What do you think if I ditch makebootfat, and using format + syslinux instead for ubcd2usb?

I have always done it that way. I find it a lot easier also. You just have to copy the files of the iso image to your thumb drive, install syslinux on it and you are done. Very handy if your stick isn't bootable any more. You only have to reinstall syslinux (no complete format needed).

Include a file in /ubcd/tools with something similar ( + that you have to copy the files of ubcd to the stick). (you can add a batch file that just launches cmd.exe so everyone knows where he has to type the commands.)
For windows: syslinux [-sfma][-d directory] x:

Are you going to include the hotkeys for the menu's? You have added the help text already, which is nice.

Maybe you can edit /pmagic/isolinux.cfg and add a number 6 " Back to UBCD menu".
Maybe you can add also a entry for Parted Magic in /ubcd/menus/hdd7.cfg (partition manager tools) and add in the help text a little bit info about Gparted instead of general information about Parted Magic.
Make an entry for "testdisk" (boot Parted Magic of course) in the appropriate config file so users of previous editions can find it fast.
Add also an entry for "partimage" in the cloning section (Parted Magic).

Can you change the default color scheme of the menu's? It is my personal taste, but I don't like the the dark blue background with the soft yellow title and the hardly readable help text in green (compared with the blue background). Especially the green text on the blue background hurts and makes it a little bit difficult to read the text.

I had would have seen the dban, the antivir and the offline folder also in the ubcd folder. It isn' t difficult to adapt it of course (2 minutes work ). But for new users it is probably easier when you just have to copy an new version of dban, antivir or offline NT password and registry editor over the old ones, whitouth modifying the isolinux.cfg or the syslinux.cfg files in those folders, when they want to update the versions of those programs.

Parted Magic 3.0 will be out within a month I think. Patrick Verner has changed and included several new programs in the current snapshots of Parted Magic 3.0.
Some usefull tools for a rescue cd which are included now: fusesmb and smbnetfs ( both display the network neighbourhood as were it on your own filesystem),
curlftpfs ( display the files of a ftp server just like a regular directory ). This allows you do backup easily your files to another pc.
Maybe a samba server will be include to (not sure because the complete package is quite large, so you can share just like in windows a directory on the network. This will allow you to share your whole drive on the network, so you can run a virus scanner on another computer (with windows) so scan the shared drive for virusses.

Last edited by Icecube on Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

Why not add slax linux? That allows adding moduals includeing one that will allow read and right support for NTFS. Slax linux would be good for thouse who also edit there Ultimateboot CD's to add some Linux extra's.

Or do you mean the link that Victor posted?
Use a bittorrent program like µtorrent. See: http://utorrent.com/
Download the link which Victor gave (right click ==> Save as... ==> e.g. somewhere on your desktop). Download µtorrent (very small) or another bittorrent program. Install it.
Double click on the ubcd50b1.iso.torrent file on your desktop. µtorrent should come up.

I have made all the suggested changes. Thanks! I have also updated ubcd2usb.cmd to use syslinux. Will let you guys test it in V5.0B2.

Are you going to include the hotkeys for the menu's? You have added the help text already, which is nice.

Nope. I tried both approach 1) making certain letters in the menu items hotkeys 2) labelling them numerically and using the numbers as hotkeys. I hated both methods (ugly). So unless anyone can recommend something better...

Maybe you can edit /pmagic/isolinux.cfg and add a number 6 " Back to UBCD menu".

To use the menu system, simply make sure [vesa]menu.c32 is in the
appropriate location for your boot medium (the same directory as the
configuration file for SYSLINUX, EXTLINUX and ISOLINUX, and the same
directory as pxelinux.0 for PXELINUX), and put the following options
in every configuration file:
DEFAULT menu.c32
PROMPT 0

at the first line on every config file, exept for isolinux.cfg, syslinux.cfg and defaults.cfg.
Or only in the others.cfg config file because Parted Magic should go back to this menu. But I think if would be better if it is already included in all the config files, just in case of some one adds another distro and wants to go back to a specific menu..
It doesn't seem to work if you include it in defaults.cfg only, which gets included in the other config files.

Victor Chew wrote:Nope. I tried both approach 1) making certain letters in the menu items hotkeys 2) labelling them numerically and using the numbers as hotkeys. I hated both methods (ugly). So unless anyone can recommend something better...

What do you hate about the numbering? That they letters and the numbers don't have the same color? If you set the same numbers for the normal text and the hotkeys, you can't see if it is a hotkey or not, but you can still use it as one ( menu color hotkey).

Victor Chew wrote:- Modified Erwin's DOS boot disk and added a "Default" bootup option that will skip all config dialogs, so it will boot much faster. All dosapps are now packaged as ZIP files that are unzipped to the RAM drive before execution.

When booting with that option, I've noticed an error message about A:\lib\cdautrun.cab (not found).
Same when booting with other options and CD-ROM support enabled.

Hammerite Compendium of Precepts, Regimens and Rules of Conduct, Vol. 113 :A stroke of thy chisel, once made, canst be undone, but a stroke thou dost not make from fear is a worse flaw.
Be not cautious - be correct.

Victor Chew wrote:- Modified Erwin's DOS boot disk and added a "Default" bootup option that will skip all config dialogs, so it will boot much faster. All dosapps are now packaged as ZIP files that are unzipped to the RAM drive before execution.

When booting with that option, I've noticed an error message about A:\lib\cdautrun.cab (not found).
Same when booting with other options and CD-ROM support enabled.

the previous version did exactly the same thing. the missing cab file in question contains findcd.exe and a script to allocate a drive letter to any cdrom device it finds. seems as if this feature was depricated a while back.

ntfs; I can only hope this was done after much consideration. ntfs is the new filesystem and we need access to it through some tools including any anti-virus. i hope some solution can be found.

parted magic is prolly the best solution without intergrating a full distro, it is a fairly good distro by itself + nice to have fprot back in some form... could suggest another antivirus to be fairly safe; clamav. But I will be intergrating at least one other when the final version comes for my own needs and like a desktop replacement/media player on my disk.

i've only had a brief chance to look at version 5, so i'll make my comments relating to what i've discovered so far.

concerning dosubcd.imz (freeDOS) image disk:

1) i honestly don't see why you've decided to replace freedos' native shell with that of 4dos; it doesn't add any practical benefit to the package (besides unecessary bloat both memory wise and disk space). also, the "help" command now breaks as a result. it just seems you've added it for no sake other than to change it since it adds no practical benefit over the previous distribution.

2) in the \bin directory you've placed cwsdpmi - unecessary as the package already exists in \level1 as a cabinet file (i.e. it already exists in %ramdrv%\bin when you finish booting into FD). a bit sloppy

3) depricating NTFS support (albeit read-only) seems hasty. yes, linux blah blah ad infinitum BUT if you're going to bother distributing FD then i suggest you place it back in and allow users to decide if they wish to use it or not. it's a rather useful component to have available!

4) spfdisk in \bin - compress this to a cabinet and place in either \level0 or \level1 to save space

5) this "Default" boot in config.sys can prove troublesome - you're assuming the user doesn't wish to enable and/or configure LFN,CDROM,USB etc. i suspect the majority of users will use this selection without realising the other boot options residing within the disk (there has already been a post from a user asking how to enable USB support).

What do you hate about the numbering? That they letters and the numbers don't have the same color? If you set the same numbers for the normal text and the hotkeys, you can't see if it is a hotkey or not, but you can still use it as one ( menu color hotkey).

Personal taste, I guess. The numbers look awful on the menu.

It seems that there is a problem with UMB and Freedos (it's in version 4.1.1 but probably also in this version). I get this from as702 post at viewtopic.php?t=1387

This change has been incorporated. I am resolving some issues with him regarding the new UDMA.CAB he sent me, after that I can put out 5.0B2.

1) i honestly don't see why you've decided to replace freedos' native shell with that of 4dos; it doesn't add any practical benefit to the package (besides unecessary bloat both memory wise and disk space). also, the "help" command now breaks as a result. it just seems you've added it for no sake other than to change it since it adds no practical benefit over the previous distribution.

Hmmm, I think you're right. The cost/benefit trade-off doesn't really warrant the change. I will revert in 5.0b2.

depricating NTFS support (albeit read-only) seems hasty. yes, linux blah blah ad infinitum BUT if you're going to bother distributing FD then i suggest you place it back in and allow users to decide if they wish to use it or not. it's a rather useful component to have available!

I had a feeling this would be controversial, and was hoping to stir up some discussion about this. Basically, I have tried NTFSDOS on all the machines I have accessed to over the past 1.5 years, and it has NEVER worked reliably. You might be able to get a "dir" or two, but it will crash or hang when you start doing something useful (like copying or editing fles). And many people have essentially the same experience if you google for "NTFSDOS".

Now you might argue why not let the user decide. But if you search for "NTFS" in this forum, a lot of folks come hoping to use UBCD to recover files from their NTFS partitions or scan for malware and come away disappointed. Why include something that does not work? It doesn't make sense, and increase support requests for all of us.

this "Default" boot in config.sys can prove troublesome - you're assuming the user doesn't wish to enable and/or configure LFN,CDROM,USB etc. i suspect the majority of users will use this selection without realising the other boot options residing within the disk (there has already been a post from a user asking how to enable USB support).

That's the whole idea! I made this change because many newbies have complained about the slow boot process of the default DOS disk. All the few seconds of wait time for each module's popup do add up to quite a wait, unless you're at the keyboard pressing [Enter] all the time.

Previously, my response has been to ask the complainant to replace the boot disk with his own (something simpler). But I realize many people neither has the time nor inclination to do that. So I think this "Default" boot option is a nice compromise. Majority of people will just use the boot disk as a conduit to the apps on the UBCD, so the "Default" option makes it fast for them. And for these people, I suspect they will probably be quite happy with not tweaking anything.

For the power users, it is just one additiona keystroke to select another boot option, in which case all the popup dialogs will appear as before. It is also trivial to change the default boot option in CONFIG.SYS, something that a newbie may find daunting.

thanks for the reply, victor. i can appreciate you're busy (and yes, the UIDE modboot is now finalised and bug free - some user feedback would be appreciated).

regarding NTFSDOS - it's strange as i've never experienced problems with it whilst using volkov (tested it on many machines). i've since upgraded the modboot to use NTFSPRO instead (not practical for this release since it is licensed).

perhaps the stability has more to do with my dos.img distribution (i've updated a lot of the files/added some new ones/fixed some older ones). i'll send you a copy if you'd like once i finish writing a list of changes from erwin's original NwDSK.

as for the default menu provided by config.sys, we'll just have to agree to disagree. personally, i don't see a problem with leaving it to how it was since the modboot times-out after a set period of time anyway. people are going to complain either way; it's better they learn how to use it and become familiar with what options they have available (e.g. usb support) rather than assuming they won't need them (and possibly never realise they exist).

ah well.

btw, i recommend you update your version of himem.exe; himem64 is very outdated and has since been bettered. i suggest you use himemx (latest build as of 03/13/2008, v3.32). very stable, no compatability issues and recommended to me and others on more than one occasion from the kind folks over at freedos.

perhaps the stability has more to do with my dos.img distribution (i've updated a lot of the files/added some new ones/fixed some older ones). i'll send you a copy if you'd like once i finish writing a list of changes from erwin's original NwDSK.

I certain hope so! Reliable NTFS DOS support is definitely A Good Thing. The reason why I concluded that NTFS support under DOS is unreliable is because the other NTFS reader "Avira NTFS4DOS Personal" also exhibited the same symptoms for me i.e. crashes, hangs. This is on real machines, not virtual ones, with 80GB to 250GB partitions. Maybe others can contribute their experiences as well. What operations do you typically perform on NTFS partitions?

btw, i recommend you update your version of himem.exe; himem64 is very outdated and has since been bettered. i suggest you use himemx (latest build as of 03/13/2008, v3.32). very stable, no compatability issues and recommended to me and others on more than one occasion from the kind folks over at freedos.

also, UMBPCI is now up to 3.76.

Thanks for the update! Will google for it. It's good to have your contribution because previously Erwin was handling all this, but he has since been missing in action.

I have found a way to add hotkeys to the menus, without that you can see them (see first screen shot). You can press 8, you go to the User-defined tools. I have set the foreground and background color of MENU COLOR HOTKEY and MENU COLOR HOTSEL to the same color as the background of MNEU COLOR SCREEN so that the hotkey (and thus the number) is invisible.

I suggest to use numbers form 1 to 9 in the main menu.
In the submenus, I suggest to start with 0 for "..", and for the following items in this submenu 1-9 and a-z.